The Summer 2018 Society Outing was to the award winning 550 acre Blessingbourne Country Estate near Fivemiletown, in County Tyrone. The owner, Colleen Lowry, gave us a personal tour of this lovely little mansion house with its wonderful views of the lake, walled garden and surrounding rolling countryside.

We were welcomed into the converted stable block cafe with morning coffee and scones (very yummy) before touring inside the house where Colleen described her attempts at buying suitable period furniture in all states of repair, her upcycling talents coming in useful. She and her husband Nicholas run the estate as a tourist venue with offers of self catering apartments, bike hire, walking trails and fishing. We were lucky to have a beautiful sunny day to sit in the courtyard after being treated to a substantial soup n' sandwich lunch.

After admiring the peacocks we explored the carriage and costume museum where a number of members ruefully admitted to having used some of the ancient artefacts on display!. Many thanks to Ronnie and Adrianne in organising another splendid trip for members to enjoy.